Review: Brasserie Dunham Black IPA

The first time I ever had Brasserie Dunham's beer was LaPatt Porter Robustethanks to whisky blogger Freaky Whisky! I had the privilege to visit Dunham's tasting room back in June thanks to Alex & Alexe over at Le Malt Incarné! More recently, Brasserie Dunham has been selling a few of their beers in Manitoba including their Berliner Melon Weisse, Saison Rustique and Black IPA. The Black IPA was definitely their most popular beer of the batch because it was an insanely cheap $2.69 per 341mL bottle, more affordable than at most dépanneurs in Quebec apparently! So today I'm checking out their hard to find (in Manitoba) Black IPA!

Appearance: Dunham's Black IPA pours like a rich dark porter with a hefty amount of yellow foam that doesn't want to go away!

Aroma: The very first thing I get from the beer is a rich roasted coffee aroma. There's also a mild amount of bitter hops in there that give off a bit of pine and floral aroma to it, it's a hint grainy even when it's as dark as it is, and a hint of dark chocolate at the end. Reminiscent of a porter or stout for me so far.. but hoppier.

Taste: The taste has a rich roasted coffee flavour to it, a heavy nuttiness that seems to coat my entire palate, a mild pine and earthy hoppiness, dark chocolate and with it being as dark as it is.. I taste a hint of lemon in there as well!

Overall Thoughts: For those looking for a floral or juicy centric IPA, you may not like this, but if you like rich robust porters as well, you will enjoy this a lot. Black IPAs are pretty heavy and roasty compared to their non-Black counterparts but since I like just about any style - I really like this beer. This is great for a chilly winter night yet has a nice typical piney hop presence to it to give it a bit of personality. You can still find this at the Quality Beer Store off of Pembina Ave. in Winnipeg for now.